Weak and wobbly

If there is one thing we’ve always sought from our Governments in Britain it’s stability. Our uncodified constitution is rigged to give enormous power to parties often elected by just over a third of the popular vote, precisely because the system is more bothered about stability than representation. Yet, with the entire deck stacked in her favour Theresa May is unstable, the Conservatives are weak and they’re leading the country into chaos.

A majority in the Commons is important because it enables you to govern, to be able to deliver on the promises you make and ensure the wellbeing of the country. If you can form a coalition or even just secure some agreement of support on key votes then at least some form of stability exists. Almost three weeks from telling the Queen she could form a Government, May can’t guarantee a single Bill will make it through Parliament.

This isn’t funny. We’re in the midst of the most complicated negotiations this country has faced since, well, possibly ever. Our chief negotiator, who assured us we could do a deal on trade while going through Article 50, has accepted defeat on day one of negotiations. That was supposed to be the easy bit, instead we now have to look forward to negotiating as one country against twenty-seven with no certainty that anything we do actually agree will make it through the Commons. For all the promises that they we were taking back control, it turns out there is no plan for guaranteeing the rights and prosperity of British citizens. This isn’t control, this is chaos.

So, what does this mean for the council? It remains unclear. On the plus side, the inability of the Conservatives to get anything done means we might actually be left alone to get on with delivering for Crawley. But in Crawley we’ve already seen what a Conservative administration on the verge of collapse is like, unable to meet their commitments to the community at even the most basic level. It’s not a pretty sight and the UK is desperately in need of an alternative.